Welcome, Aaveah Marie Stender!

Excitement has reigned at our home!
We have a new granddaughter! Aaveah Marie.
And what an interesting entrance she made...
Julie and JP arrived early at the hospital in Alexandria..at 6 a.m. which meant they had to get up around 4 to leave at 5 to be at the hospital at 6. What a morning!
By 7 they had her hooked up for the IV drip that would start things..hopefully!
And while they were getting ready, Grandpa had to drive bus and Grandma had to leave early, around 6, to go to the Peanut Butter and Milk festival in Litchfield. People from Litchfield made a connection with people from Alabama and in February they send a group to Litchfield and in November a group from Litchfield goes there.
Monday was their farm visit so they visited two dairy farms and First District Co-op.
On my way to the first farm visit, I tried calling home to make sure Andy and Jose were up. Both had their cell phones turned off. So called the landline and kept hitting redial as no one was answering. I finally got Jose at 7:50 and he was getting dressed and Andy had just jumped in the shower.
I'd warned the boys that I would be leaving early and they both said, yah, yah. Jose said he didn't need to set his phone because he always wakes up on time.
Guess again, my son! Is this a learning moment?!
I got to the first farm on time, visited a second with the group all the while traveling on gravel roads that are, in one word, dangerous thanks to the ice storm from a couple of weeks ago.
But while at First District Cooperative, my cell phone buzzed (I always have it on vibrate during interviews or workshops. There's nothing more irritating than hearing tunes from the hit parade because some bozo (no offense to the clown) can't put their phone on silence or turn it off!)
Well, the first call was from work. I hadn't turned in my time card. Hadn't turned in my time card?! Blasted! Yes, it WAS due Monday!
Guess Ive had a few things on my mind from new baby to travels! Yikes!
so I made arrangements to have that in later. And then there was a call from Doug.
New baby? Nope. Get this...he's texting me the rescheduled game schedule for the game that WAS to be played Tuesday but had to be moved because of political caucus meetings Tuesday night! Sheesh.Didn't grandpa realize I am Grandma hear me roar?? I'm on baby watch, buster!
After visiting with the group fromAlabama, I got the road to head home, in very snowy and drifty conditions, I might add.
Got back to Fergus and in late afternoon, headed out with Wayne, his two boys to go to Alex for the birth which the doctor said should happen around 5. By the time we left around 6 it hadn't.
As we attempted to enjoy coffee and muffins at Caribou coffee, it still hadn't.
When we moved to the Burger King playland since Caribou Coffee didn't offer enough stimulation for the two little ones, there was STILL no word. Finally Nancy, who'd been with Julie since 9 a.m., text messaged Wayne to say we should come...baby should be born at any moment.
So, with the Hein family, we waited until finally we got word Aaveah Marie had arrived. And what a great pair of lungs she has, too!
I don't think she liked all the flashes of camera!
Dad looked proud and mom tired...well, both of them were tired but Julie perhaps a bit more physically exhausted. Her cousin, Sarah, arrived that afternoon, was also there for the birth and planned to stay the night. What a neat lady she is! And Nancy kept everyone informed. Like a play-by-play announcer, she wrote about the pending birth on facebook.
Poor grandpa, who had to work at Take 5 that night, kept up to date on everything via facebook. At the announcement, he quickly sent messages to Andy and Jose.
Andy was very excited and wondered when he could see his new niece. I said probably Tuesday night after Basketball practice. But that's lost night, he said. Sheesh. Young men and their shows!
As it turned out Grandpa, Andy and Jose took off late Tuesday morning to make a visit. They only got 15 minutes because a nurse was in with Julie, but they each got to hold the new little one.
Aaleigha is a big sister! At this point she's undaunted by the fact she has a sibling. That will change. The bain of any older sibling, the younger one, has arrived for this little one.
And JP and Julie get to enjoy the ride!

Keeping the riff-raff out

Today, on a Saturday, as I was driving to Dassel to take pictures for work (Yessss on a SATURDAY!!!) I was listening to MPR's "Wait Wait Don't tell me!", one of my favorite radio gameshows. Okay, so radio isn't known for its game shows but the wit and stories told on this one often has me in stitches.

Anyway, one of the contestants they phoned to play a game with the panel of celebrity guests was from Minneapolis. When she was asked how things were going, the contestant said it was cold but it keeps the riff raff out. One of the celebrity judges said she wasn't in Minnesota because of the cold and the contestant said something like exactly...making her point that the riff raff was out.

Great come back.

But as I was driving to Steve Dille's farm to take the pictures...driving on a gravel road, iced over from last weekend's storm, putting the explorer in four-wheel drive...I kept thinking of that riff raff.

How many people would venture out in our sub-zero cold much less the icy roads? Not many. Not many Minnesotans for that matter.

We are a tough lot! We are from good Viking stock!

But I still could've done without the ice.

Breiden's 3!!!!

Eldest Grandson Breiden turned 3 this month!

He's so proud this advancement in years!

Funny how the youth look forward to the birthdays and, as we age, we want to ignore it!

So the planned parties came on a weekend of a big storm. Nanc was able to have her sister and family over on Saturday and on Sunday, after church, everyone came here for a lasagna dinner and gift opening. What a fun day!

Nanc and the boys stayed until the half of the Vikings game (too bad, so sad, they lost) and decided she should go home as dear little Kian seemed bent on moving just about anything including books and knick knacks. It's okay. I have the breakables up.

I've decided that that one is going to be a detective. He doesn't miss much!

But what fun to see him discover.

And Breiden, Mr. Birthday Boy, got a wealth of matchbox cars, Lightning McQueen and Thomas the Train paraphenalia. It seemed that, with every gift, his eyes got wide. And his birthday parties kept coming and coming.

Nanc, as always, did a great job in preparations and decorating. His cake was a racetrack. She's so inventive!

As we sat down for dinner, Kian began to cry. Nancy was putting him his booster/high chair seat that attaches to a regular chair and he was quite upset. She told him it was his special chair and Breiden had used it. That didn't appease him.

I told him he could have a banana. In between his sobs I heard a no.

Then grandpa took him out of the chair and put him on his lap. Kian's dears were visible but the sobs stopped as he ate lasagna and drank Kool Aid. Kool Aid. They love it. Guess I should stick to plain water.

As they were playing in the living room and I was working in the kitchen, Breiden brought me a wooden snowman saying the snowman didn't like it in the living room. Hmmmm. Okay. I put him on the counter as I took care of the dishes.

He came back later asking for some marshmallows.

Nope, no more sugar. I took them out of sight from the cupboard and put them in an undisclosed location.

Such a busy day filled with many fun memories.

Happy bd, Breiden! What a great three year old!

No more dreaming, it's definitely been a white Christmas!!!!

We're Minnesotans and we're tough, but snowstorms at Christmas are a bit hard to take.

We missed celebrating with my family and now my husband's family. This is getting old real fast! All that good food, great fellowship and just, well, being together.

But Mother Nature had to have her say. While we didn't get as much snow here, the travel and winds and snows were worse around us.

So on Christmas Day, when normally we'd be visiting with my side of the family, we instead stayed bundled up at home. The boys were enjoying their new netbooks, Doug had plans to watch something with a ball in it on TV and me...well, I had an inkling to go to a movie.

I don't mind going to a movie by myself. All those years I did the power-commute thing for work taught me that sometimes you just have to do things by yourself. And I do enjoy movies. Doug doesn't like sitting in theatre seats and the boys have now decided it's not the coolest thing on this earth to go to a movie with mom...she can drive you out there but then you try to separate.

I don't mind. I can pick where I want to sit and what movie I want to watch and laugh as loud as I want or wipe away the tears in private without worrying if someone is going to see me.

So I saw It's Complicated. Good movie although I was surprised to see so many men attending what I thought was a chick flick. There were husbands and wives at the movie and, in one row, three guys...just guys no dates, no wives...interesting.

Christmas was a bit unconventional. How many times have I gone to a movie on Christmas day? Never until this year. And I saw that there were many people I knew who felt the same way. My best bud and her family were there. They went to another movie but there was something comforting knowing their plans had changed as well. And once I got out of the theatre, some church friends were waiting to see the same movie I saw.

When it snows at Christmas like it did this year, you have to expect the unexpected and go with Plan B!

Christmas Eve shoppers UNITE!!!!

Most people would be in a panic by now....six days till Christmas. But this is the time frame that gets my adrenaline flowing.

I am a regular Christmas Eve shopper, you see. I have a few things purchased...a few things for the DILS (daughter-in-laws), know what we are giving all our boys and have my present purchased to me..actually it's my present from my hubby but Doug told me to get my own present since I told him I wanted some Hillcrest gear. He said, "Buy it from me and wrap it for Christmas."

It works. At least I can get it in the size I know will fit and not some imaginary size Doug either wishes I'd be or some oversized thing he thinks will fit me but I will swim in...so I'm not complaining.

And about my Christmas Eve shopping, well, it's in my blood.

You see, growing up, my sisters and I would plan our Christmas Eve trips to either Alexandria or Fergus Falls. We had a list of who we had to buy for and some ideas. You see when you shop like this you have to have ideas. You can't have one thought in mind like those little hamster things that EVERYONE seems to be buying, except me, obviously.  And you go for things people can use rather than the popular faddish things.

I remember going into the department stores and we'd try several types of perfume for a gift for mom or check out the different tester bottles for cologne for our brother or dad or uncles. One year we all got sick to our stomachs on the way home, no urping, but it still made our stomachs churn as we smelt like a combination of Stetson cologne and Chanel perfume. YUCKO!

It was the only time in the winter that we drove with the windows down!

Once we got home to the farm, we each went into a different bedroom to wrap, wrap wrap, finish chores, take a bath (we had no shower. Oh, the humanity!) and get ready to go to Grandma's house. Amazingly, all the hub-bub seemed like a well-planned event. We enjoyed the evening, the surprises of the gifts and all the food. There was always more than enough to eat.

Ahhh. Busy shopping, preparations and a late night. We slept really good once we got home.

So maybe my Christmas Eve shopping events aren't really something I HAVE to do but it's like baking sugar cookies and listening to Christmas songs...it's tradition! And you don't want to mess with mother tradition now, do you?!

Oh Christmas Tree humbug

Like many households, we got our Christmas tree up after Thanksgiving.

It's artificial, but like real trees, it has its imperfections. The top branches seem thicker than the bottom ones and the top branch, the one that's supposed to stick straight up, has a bend in it. I could bend it straight, but it gives some realness to its unreality.

Regardless, like the Christmas decorations of my youth, this tree will be up until the 12 days of Christmas or, in other words, through Epiphany. We're so quick to celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus in the weeks coming up to Christmas, we fail to honor the whole Christmas story including the wisemen!

And so the decorations are up for the duration.

My nativity scene has been scaled back some, though. Not because of any cost cutting measures. The reality is that some of the figures have fallen on hard times...they've fallen on the hard floor and have broken.

Some of their falls were due to grandbabies who got ahold of the figurines before Gramma could grab them. Some fell victim to my clumsiness. No matter what, they're toast, plain and simple.

So it's a bit smaller party in the stable scene. There's a donkey, cow and sheep. there's a wiseman (note the singular term) a shepherd and Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. The important thing is the three main characters remain.

My girlfriend told me her family had received a nativity set carved from olive wood. They lost baby Jesus and replaced him with a swaddled napkin complete with pen-placed eyes, nose and smile.

I got my Family Christian bookstore catelog today and there were other nativity scenes to purchase. There's even a Veggie Tales one!

No matter what the characters look like, it's the story that counts. The fulfillment of prophecy. Our Savior is born! Alleluia!

Blessings

Here they are! Our DIL Nancy and her sons (our precious grandsons) B and Kian. although we don't "celebrate" halloween, we do enjoy the costumes. The boys ar wearing costumes Nancy made. Obviously they are color crayons and Nancy is so gifted and did such a great job of putting the outfits together. And her? Why she's a gumball machine! So creative.

We weren't able to be home that night because Andy had a football game - semi-sections. They lost but they had a good season and we were blessed with everything along the way. The next night, the same night as the Vikings game, JP and Julie came with Aaleigha...she was dressed as a Vikings Cheerleader. Doug tried calling Andy who was watching the Vikings game at a friends house to tell him we had an actual Vikings cheerleader in our living room but he was too busy watching the game, obviously!

what fun it was, though! To see the kids and grab these pix.

We are blessed!